Ohio State, Clemson to face off in Orange Bowl after Buckeyes' surprising loss

December 8, 2013|By Dieter Kurtenbach, Sun Sentinel

Saturday afternoon, Ohio State was a win away from an undefeated regular season and a berth in the BCS National Championship Game.

A 34-24 loss to Michigan State in the Big Ten Championship Game ended that National Championship dream, but a berth 2014 Discover Orange Bowl is an excellent consolation prize.

The Orange Bowl had the first selection in the final edition of the BCS and with that pick, it chose the Buckeyes (12-1) to play in the Jan. 3, 2014 game at Sun Life Stadium.

Ohio State will play Clemson, who was chosen as the ACC's representative in the game after Florida State finished atop the last BCS Standings, earning a bid to the BCS National Championship Game.

Clemson (10-2), finished 12th in the final BCS Standings, but there was little debate of taking a higher-ranked team, like the No. 10 Oregon Ducks or No. 11 Oklahoma Sooners, instead of the Tigers for the 80th edition of the game.

That decision to pick Clemson stemmed from the ACC and Orange Bowl's Nov. 2012 agreement that tied the ACC Champion to the South Florida contest for the next 12 years, with ESPN paying the bowl and average of $55 million per year. This is the final year of the BCS system, which has brought the BCS National Championship game to South Florida four times since its implementation in 1998.

"From our standpoint, obviously there's a long-standing relationship with the ACC that goes back to the beginning of the BCS. The last eight years, [our tie-in] has been exclusively with the ACC," Orange Bowl Director Eric Poms said in a teleconference following the announcement. "As we look to the future, we have a 12-year arrangement coming up… with that being said, we looked at every aspect that was involved, but in the end, in the best interest of the Orange Bowl moving forward was to have the best possible game for today and set up our course for the future."

Clemson has played in the Orange Bowl four times before, and they'll be keen to atone for their last appearance, when Geno Smith and West Virginia scored a BCS record 70 points on the Tiger defense.

Ohio State has played in the Orange Bowl once before, in 1977, when the Buckeyes beat Colorado 27-10.

Both teams will bring in nationally-elite offenses, led by preseason Heisman Trophy contenders Braxton Miller and Tajh Boyd.

In 11 games this season, Miller was the dynamo of the Ohio State offense, throwing for 1,860 yards and rushing for another 1,033. He's averaged 155 yards and two touchdowns rushing per contest in his last four games this season.

Boyd's preseason spotlight might have been stolen by Florida State's Jameis Winston when the Seminoles blew out Clemson in South Carolina on Oct. 19, but even without the national attention in the last half of the season, the Tigers' quarterback put together a stellar campaign, throwing for 29 touchdowns, nearly 3,500 yards and running for another nine scores.

With the selection of the Buckeyes, Ohio State coach Urban Meyer became the first-ever coach to take three separate programs — Utah, Florida, and now Ohio State — to a BCS Bowl Game. It also marks a return to Florida for the former Gators coach, who left UF in 2010 for what he deemed "health reasons" only to return to coaching a year later with the Buckeyes, with whom he is 24-1 in two seasons.

Both teams announced Sunday that they will receive 17,500 ticket to the game. Ohio State, based on its higher BCS ranking, will be considered the home team. Clemson is projected as an early favorite to win.